Darkness Above
by Haxong
Summary: Harrison Evans and Marvolo Riddle, rulers over Great Britain and Ireland, love their lifes. They have just begun to expand their conquest towards France when a last desperate attack of the resistance pulls them into an alternate universe. One were their past selves are an abused little child and a powerless spirit. And worst of all: They're mortal enemies! AU, HPxTR, light bashing
1. Prolog: A completely normal day

**Title:** Darkness Above

**Summary:** You often get to read this stories were Harry Potter is sent back in time, meets and befriends Tom Riddle and together they're an unstoppable team. Oh, and a couple, of course.

You also often get to read stories were an adult Harry is sent back in time or to an alternate universe and has to kill Voldemort in it again all over again, trying to hide the fact that he's from the future.

However you rarely read a fanfiction were those two scenarios are being combined...

**Rating:** M

**Warnings:** AU, light bashing and boyxboy. Don't like, don't read. Some OOC can't be avoided as well since the main characters have been brought up in a different way then in canon.

Also I apologize for any mistakes in spelling and grammer. English is not my mother language. If anyone wants to be my beta, you're welcome.

**Note** for the prolog: Harrison Evans and Marvolo Riddle are Harry Potter and Tom Riddle. They live in an AU were they rule the world together. It will later be made clear why they use those names (aside from it becoming misleading when they meet their past selfs). The prolog shall describe exactly what the title says, a completely normal day in their life.

**Disclaimer:** Well... do I earn money with this? No? ...shit happens.

* * *

**Darkness Above**

* * *

"My Prince", the kneeling man said and bowed his head until it almost touched the ground. "I have the layout for the new law you want to bring into motion."

Harrison Evans, better known as the Dark Prince, gave his second-in-command, Regulus Black, the barest of smiles and took the file from him.

"Thank you, Regulus. When do you recon this will be established in everyday life?"

"Well, that depends. The Wolfsbane Potion requires a lot of expensive ingredients. In order to be able to offer them to all of them we need a lot of funds."

"Alright then..." Harrison though for a moment over the problem. "We already made it so that vampires can ask for magical blood from muggleborns against money. 15% of that income goes to them directly, the rest I want you to take for the Wolfsbane."  
"Yes, my Prince."  
"And make sure the vampires don't get wind from it. Those races hate each others guts, don't ask me why..."

"It will be just the way you ordered."  
"Excellent. Now please sent Narcissa Malfoy in next. She will be my last appointment for today. Then I'll only have the training session in the evening."

Regulus bowed again before heading out of the hall. It was actually meant to be an office but far to big to count as one. On the far end the door opened again and a tall, blonde women entered. She too bowed before even daring to come to stand in front of his desk.

"My Prince, it is a pleasure to see you again", she said politely and made a curtsy.

"You too, Narcissa. It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

Narcissa averted her eyes as if she was afraid her Prince could take offense in her long absence. But Harrison only smiled.

"You are in no trouble", he reassured her and was bemused by the relieved sigh that slipped from her perfect pureblood mask.

"I was simply curious about your latest project. The magical orphanage you opened two years ago. How is your progress with it?"

"My Prince, we have begun as the Dark Lord proposed by visiting muggle families with a high amount of accidental magic being performed. If the children were willing we took them into the orphanage and erased the memory of them from their parents. If the children were unwilling we put the parents and other relatives living with them under a magical vow to never speak about our world to anyone.

Doing this we already found two hundred children in Great Britain and Ireland of different ages and opened another two orphanages. Compared to that the number of pureblood orphans is very low. The children are being brought up the wizarding way. They get an early education, mainly on culture and politic as well as basics from the muggle world but also on magic itself."

"How many of them are being adopted by wizarding families?"

"During to the publication of the recent researches on the inbreeding problem and the weakening of magic itself, quite a few were magically adopted. Around 30% I would say, always the younger ones of course, the ones that show particularly strong magic. It is the greatest wish of every mudblood to be adopted too, so they wouldn't be second-class-citizen anymore."

"That I can imagine. A blood adoption gets rid of their taint and makes their magic clean again. But alas there are so many of them, only the strongest will get that chance."

The foundation for that research had been laid by none other then the legendary Salazar Slytherin himself. It had been given to one Severus Snape, a very talented potion master. He had found out that mudbloods came to be during to a mutation from muggles. Their blood was indeed tainted and in the long run poisoned the pure blood of the wizarding families they married in. On the other hand the magic of old families tended to be either light or dark. There were so few wizards left that those families were forced to marry again. Dark and Light however did not mix in a good way, further weakening the magic. The solution was the blood adoption. A blood adoption cleaned the magic of a mudblood. They became either dark or light depending on their upbringing and even then if they married a wizard with a different orientation the gene they gave their child was a clean one again. Also adopting mudbloods from an early age got rid of the most present source of prejudice: that mudbloods were simply raised in a different way, did not understand about the wizarding world at all and tried to change it nonetheless. It was a brilliant idea, really, and like so many it unfortunately it wasn't Harrisons.

"I am pleased with your progress", Harrison said and smirked when he saw the woman blushing. "Do keep up your good work. Who knows, maybe even I will one day adopt a child from your orphanages?" It was the only way he could ever have a chance to get an heir, after all. Not that he needed one, being practically immortal and aging around three times slower then the average wizard. Still, he had though about it once or twice. Well, maybe just once.

He dismissed the obviously very happy Narcissa before standing up and stretching his limbs. It was time for his lesson. A little bit of training and blowing up things would do him good.

Yes, the Dark Prince and ruler over Great Britain, Ireland and soon France too, smiled to himself. It was a perfectly normal day.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

"My Lord", the kneeling man said respectfully and bowed his head. "We have done as you have ordered." One could not see much from his face during to the white, skull-like mask disguising most of it. But his stormy gray eyes shined clearly in awe and a hint of fear.

Marvolo Riddle, better known as the Dark Lord, looked up from the maps that were spread on the small wooden table in the middle of the office that made up most of the magical tent.

"What about the provisions?", he asked his second-in-command, Lucius Malfoy.

"The Knights of Walpurgis have raided five muggle farms up until now. The food has been stored, the filth cleaned away. We await a troop of twelve werewolfes in two hours that will grow the fields the magical way. After that we do not expect any problems."

"Did the Batôns submit to our demands yet?"

"I fear not, my Lord."

Marvolo scowled. There were 45 wizarding families in France in total. Twelve had already been on their side and supported them when they were still busy with Britain. Another 15 had submitted themselves as soon as Marvolo had made his first political strikes, six had woken up after the first raids. Already three greater families had been killed off, children under the age of 14 had been brought to Britain to the orphanages.

The Batôns, an old and rich family, were next.

"Prepare another raid, then. We need get more house-elves too, make sure none of them are killed.

"My Lord, what should we do about the local resistance then?"

"We will make a split attack. I will lead a group of knights to the hideout of the resistance that we found last week. That will call the aurors in too so nobody of skill will be able to help the Batôns when you lead the second group there. Rules as usual, give them the chance to come to our side. Kill them when they refuse."

"Of course, My Lord."  
"Oh, and Lucius? I don't want any rumors about torture sessions. We are here to free this country, not to enslave it. Make sure Bella understands that too."

"Yes, my Lord. However, in that case we may need more knights then we currently have stationed here."

"Hm... Evans said he had another group of recruits ready. I'll bring them at once."

If Malfoy found something strange in the fact that his Lord would see to such a mundane message personally, he didn't let it show. He was soon dismissed and Marvolo left the tent.

Outside a terrible scream rang in his ears. In the middle of the camp a man had been tied to a wooden post. He only wore his trousers and his torso was littered with bloody gashes and burn marks. A knight with his mask on was pointing his wand at the prisoner.

"We can make this quick and painless... or we can make it hell for you", he said to the man. "I will repeat myself one last time. The Wards, De Vré, what do they consist of? We know you were the one to create them, don't deny it..."

Marvolo was strolling through the camp without giving his attention to anything that his knights were up to – mostly training, dueling, running around putting messages about. But for a split second he allowed himself to look at the tortured man, reveling in his pain and desperation. Nowadays he barely got a chance to express his more sadistic natures properly. He wished he was the one torturing that prisoner. But no, he didn't have time for that. He had a war to fight and an army to lead, he couldn't occupy himself with such childish desires. He would find far better entertainment soon anyway.

For a moment his and the eyes of De Vré met and he could see the pleading in them. At first Marvolo though the man wanted to die, wanted the pain to end. But then he realized with quite some amusement, that the man hoped he'd _help _him – because unlike everyone else in the camp he didn't wear one of these silver masks. Apart from his knights no one knew that Marvolo Riddle was really the Dark Lord Voldemort. When he went into battle he changed his appearance into a fearsome, twisted image of himself. An incomplete transformation, resembling that of his animagus form, a great python. Its purpose was to spread fear among his enemies but also to give him the chance to walk among normal wizards that weren't involved in the war without being recognized. When they had first stepped forward to attack England's society, that had been a crucial advantage since he could work on politics and fight a crude war at the same time.

Marvolo didn't savor De Vré a second glance and instead threw a handful of floo powder into the blazing flames of the campfire.

~Dark Manor~, he hissed in Parseltongue and the flames took him away.

Yes, the Dark Lord smiled to himself, blood, plans and warfare – that was a perfectly normal day for him.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Marvolo entered the Dark Manor through the grand fireplace. Calling a house-elf he found out that Evans was with the new recruits. Entering the training hall he was greeted with a beautiful sight.

Harrison Evans, his partner, his brother, his friend, his lover, his source of immortality was in the middle of a fight. Five young recruits were targeting him at once, firing disarming spells and stupors at him. The man didn't bother to pull up a shield, instead dodging the spells. One sorry excuse of a wannabe knight actually got hit by one of the stray curses. The remaining four pulled together, firing more advanced spells with each step. Harrison turned around, ducked and twisted his body to avoid some of the spells that were more difficult to block. When they managed to aim their curses on the same time again he hissed softly, calling on his magic and pulling a blue sphere around him, deflecting every single spell.

The four recruits made the mistake to halt their actions, looking at each other for a clue what to do.

"No more ideas?", Evans drawled and lazily drew his wand. It was then that the other wizards realized that up until now he hadn't even needed it to deflect their spells.

"Then it's my turn", he growled darkly. The fear in their eyes was most amusing.

Harrison moved so fast one barely could follow him. He fired a mild stunner at the first recruit, who was caught completely off guard. The second reflexively pulled up a shield but Evans kicked him against his chest, throwing him backwards. The other two were more guarded now. One of them tried to fire another curse but with a flick of his wand Harrison summoned a pair of thick roots that grew out of the blank stone ground and wriggled around his legs. Harrison simply snatched his wand out of his hand when he tried to burn the roots. His last companion wanted to free him, pointing his wands to the roots. In this moment Evans' gaze passed Marvolos. His entire posture changed immediately. He let go of his battle stance, his body relaxed, his attitude became challenging.

"My, my, the Dark Lord is visiting today, what an honor!"

The last recruit turned around to him too, his eyes widening when he saw Marvolo. A silent stunner hit him in the back.

Marvolo came closer while Evans woke up his recruits.

"Your teamwork – terrible", he scolded them. "Smith, you have to improve your reaction time. Parkinson, stop _thinking_ so much and just _do_ it! You won't have time for carefully laid plans in the heat of a battle. Black, better but you have to remember that there are things a Protego will not protect you from. The simplest of all is a physical attack. Bones, you depend to much on your wand and Whiler... Well, I suppose you hold yourself until the end but then you fall for the _oldest trick in the world_. Really, you have to work on that."

He dismissed the recruits who were more then a little down but took the advice nonetheless. He sent them to practice their dueling with the other recruits and came to greet Marvolo.

"Finally decided to show yourself? Took you long enough", he said easily.

"Who would want to stay around such an annoying brat like yourself anyway?", Marvolo asked rhetorically. "I'm here because of business."  
Harrison sneered. "Of course you are. Let's take this to the office then."

They left the training hall. Shutting the door to the office behind him Harrison sat down on the table, not caring about the chaos he was causing to the papers on it.

"So, what brought you here? Having problems in France?", he asked.

"Quite the opposite. Everything is fine." He smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, and even if it wasn't you wouldn't tell me, right?"  
"Exactly." Marvolo came closer until he stood right in front of Harrison. The latter one raised his hand, putting a lost strand of ebony black hair behind the ear of his lover. Staring into his dark red eyes he felt the familiar need to touch him, so smell him, to taste his skin and bury his hands in his hair. But it was Marvolo who leaned forward first, catching his lips in a hot kiss. One hand grabbed his neck, the other his waist as he was pulled forward. A soft moan escaped Harrisons mouth when Marvolo began to suck at his lower lip. He pressed himself against the body of the older man and only let go of him when he felt the lack of air.

"I'm going to strike a double attack next week", Marvolo murmured, nibbling at his ear. "I'll need another troop of recruits for it."

Harrison gasped when Marvolo found a particularly sensitive spot but pulled back nonetheless.

"That would be a death sentence You saw them, they're not ready."

"Screw it. The mission isn't that difficult." He wanted to pull him towards him again, but Harrison quickly freed himself.

"I'm not going to sent these... these _children _to a suicide mission!"

"Such is the life of a soldier, Harrison!", Marvolo returned, slightly raising his voice. He did _not _like being refused. And yet he should have known Harrison would make him trouble. He always did. Marvolo was like water, engulfing the masses and pulling them with him in rapture like the flow. Harrison was like fire, melting and forging the souls of his followers until they were perfect tools, working together in a way that made people think they could read each others mind. Both of them had their ways to ensure the loyalty of their followers. Nobody would ever dare to refuse Lord Voldemort because they feared him – but only him. Being a Knight of Walpurgis meant that you had to fear no one else. Not hunger, not poverty, not enemy wizards. As long as you feared Lord Voldemort.

Harrison on the other hand was their Prince. He was their heart, their soul. They _loved _him. They craved for his attention, for his approval. He was only using them and most of them knew that but would still sacrifice their lifes for him in an instant. It was a system that worked wonderfully but it did have the unfortunate disadvantage of them having a great responsibility towards their men. While Marvolo was willing to be more lenient with their rules when the gain was a great one, Harrison was not.

Marvolo grabbed Harrisons arm and the younger one could see a hint of danger in his eyes. "We want to change this world together, do we not? Justice, equality, peace...You have to fight for these things. These so called _children_ all have murdered more then once. They knew what they signed up for and they did it willingly. I don't need your permission to take them and you know it..."

Harrison bit his lip and averted his eyes. "Then what exactly", he meant finally, "would I get out of it?"

Marvolo smirked again. A deal. That was how their relationship had always been. A chain of deals and bargains and bets. Always fighting for the upper hand.

"Well then, do humor me. Name your price."

"Oh, I'll be generous. You may chose", Harrison answered with an evil grin. "An general allowance for muggleborns to work in the ministry..."

Marvolo snarled. "I will never understand why you insist on keeping those weaklings _happy _when all we need them for is bearing children."  
"...your giants stopping their rampage in south France..."  
"Those are _muggle _villages!"

"Absolute isolation, _Tom, _that's what we decided on! But maybe the last option will please you better?"

"Oh? What would that option be?", Marvolo said, growling in annoyance of his lover's use of his detested first name.

Harrison wrapped his arms around his neck, smirking diabolically. "I'd let the matter go... If you'd bottom for me."

Marvolo's face fell. "_What!?"_

"You heard me, _Tom._ I want you on the bottom."

"No way in hell!"  
"Aw, come on! It would be fun!"

Marvolo looked absolutely horrified. That was until Harrisons grin widened and he realized that that had been his aim all along – to catch him off guard, to see his mask slip. Damn him.

"It's only one troop of fresh recruits", he pressed finally. "Name another price."

Harrison signed and drew back. "Fine. Give me another two weeks and up the age of hostages and prisoners not to be killed to fifteen and you can take them. I'll give them a crash course."

"You have five days."  
"Ten."  
"A week", Marvolo hissed, "and not a day longer."

Harrison nodded curtly. It was still too early for his liking... But he would have to do the best out of it.

"Sometimes I'm not sure why I even put up with you", Marvolo growled.

"It's because I'm awesome", Harrison answered grinning. "And because that horcrux of yours stuck inside of me makes you immortal. But mainly because I'm awesome."

"Do keep telling that to yourself."

"Aw, don't be like that", Harrison said, back to his teasing self. "I know you love me!"  
"I'm a psychopath, Harrison, I do not have empathy. I wouldn't know love if it jumped me in the face."

"Like so?", he asked, pushing against his chest hard. Caught off guard Marvolo stumbled, falling to the ground with Harrison on top of him.

"See", he whispered, his mouth barely an inch away from his ear. "Now I have you on the bottom."

"You blood bastard", Marvolo growled. Within seconds he had caught Harrisons hands and turned them around. One knee pressing against his crotch Marvolo pried a low moan from him even before he let his hands wander over his body. Suddenly Harrison wore far to much clothing for his liking.

~You can be such an insolent brat sometimes, can't you?~, Marvolo hissed, slipping into parseltongue. It made Harrison shiver. His erection was already throbbing painfully and he couldn't get rid of his robes fast enough. A whispered word later he had vanished his lovers robes with wandless magic.

Marvolo snickered at him. ~So impatient!~

~Shut the fuck up!~

As if to make his point clear he drew the other wizard into a kiss. Instantly they began to fight for the dominance. Their magical connection practically sang under their touch. Marvolos horcrux inside of Harrison and Harrisons horcrux inside of Marvolo – the two pieces that made them broken, that made them complete – made them immortal.

Marvolo bit on his neck, sucking at the skin of his shoulders, his collarbone, his nipples. Harrison in turn buried his hands in his ebony hair, silently begging him to get lower. Instead his lover pulled him into another kiss. Somewhere between their passionate fight Harry had lost the rest of his clothing. Marvolos erection was grinding against his and he knew he couldn't take it much longer.

~Salazar! What do you need so long for!?~, Harrison hissed angrily, knowing that Marvolo couldn't withstand the temptation of him speaking parseltongue while having sex if his life depended on it.

As expected Marvolo let go of a deep moan, finally burying himself inside of Harrison. Pain shoot up his body and he gasped, but he only hold tighter on his lover. That was exactly how he liked it.

As they moved in the same rhythm they couldn't help a small smile. Yes, it was a completely normal day. And they _loved _their life!


	2. The Dark Duo anew

Now here it is... The Dark Duo arrives in the alternate world. Or is it the real one? Enjoy!

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

"Say that again." Harrisons voice was calm but if one knew him you could hear the slight tremble in it.

"The... The Dark Lord... he's gone."

Anger. Hot, white burning anger. Harrison lashed out at the unfortunate knight that had brought him the message. His magic flowed over him, aggressively, threateningly. It formed a hundred small needles piercing his skin and heating his blood until it boiled in his veins.

It wasn't a nice death.

Gone! How could Marvolo be gone? Just like that? He was immortal, dammit!

The description of his knights didn't give him any clues either. A blinding white light was all they saw. The attack on the manor had ended in their victory and the six responsible enemy wizards who took part in the mysterious spell were executed on the spot. Stupid, stupid followers! Now they couldn't be questioned on the nature of the spell.

Harrison knew Marvolo was not dead. He couldn't die, not as long as he himself was still alive. The only way they could possibly leave this world was if they somehow shoot each other with a killing curse at the exact same time. And god, how many attempts were there to spread mistrust between them, to make them hate each other? It was all futile.

But now Marvolo was gone and no one knew were to find him. No one but Harrison.

The wizards forced himself to calm down. He pulled his magic back to him and concentrated hard on his occlumency shields. Soon he found himself in his inner mindscape. Not surprisingly it looked like the Slytherin common room in Hogwarts. That was the place that had been his first home. Here he had found comfort and even a sense of safety after the long, painful years in the orphanage. There had been little joy and even less love. The only person he could ever rely on had been his older brother Tom. Even though they weren't blood related, the fact that they were the only wizards, the only _special _children in the whole rotten place had bound them together stronger then blood. It was the same for Marvolo but he instead had chosen another mindscape – the Chamber of Secrets. Luckily it was easily reachable from his one. All Harrison had to do was stepping forward to the painting with the large Python, that strongly reminded him of Marvolos animagus form. Whispering his lover's full name – _Tom Marvolo Riddle –_ opened the painting and with it the link they shared through their horcruxes.

The chamber was in chaos. Deep gashes were spaced over the entire hall, pillars had been crushed and from somewhere water pooled on the ground in front of Slytherin's statue like blood. He felt more then he saw a movement by his side and turned around. But it was only Nagra, the image of the great Basilisk that protected the chamber and that here, in Marvolos mindscape, symbolized his natural defense. Any intruder who came here by force would be ripped to shreds by the giant serpent.

Nagra didn't give him more then a glance before curling in front of the statue. Harrison didn't mind him either, instead stepping into the middle of the hall. It was unnerving and worried him what had happened here. Such an extend of damage would mean that his lover was in turmoil, confused, angry and maybe even _scared_. Harrison had never seen him like that and while it was an interesting though he didn't fancy it much. Nobody took away _his _Tom.

Harrison stepped forward to meet Nagra. When in a mindscape one could search for the secrets and memories of the person by browsing around the inner room. In order to read the surface thoughts however and, in their case, to look through the eyes of the other, one had to find the 'window'. In Harrisons mindscape the window was the ceiling. Looking up to it one could see what he saw like watching a movie. Toms window was positioned in Nagras eyes. Like a mirror they deflected what happened to him on the surface.

Used to this procedure Nagra allowed him to come closer until he stood directly in front of him. He could look through his eyes as he would with a binocular. The pictures he saw however, didn't make any sense.

Tom was in dark room, dozens and dozens of new books around him. He was preoccupied with his reading but Harrison could see an angry scowl on his face. Instead of books on dark magic and defense through, they were mostly on history. He saw some books on time travel and magical theory but there were also a lot of newspapers and even magazines!

That wasn't the strangest thing, though. Harrison _recognized _the room. And he knew for a fact that it didn't exist anymore.

It was over fifty years ago that Tom and him had gone to that old manor, searching for his muggle relatives. That day Tom had abandoned his name, insisting on Harry calling him Marvolo while his followers were to call him _Voldemort_. It was the day he had killed his father and his grand parents. It hadn't been planned that way. At first he just wanted to meet them, to know why they left him in that hellhole. And what had Tom Riddle Sr. done? He asked how much _money _he wanted. That was when Marvolo had lashed out.

He had probably expected Harrison to be angry at him for it. The younger one had always made an effort to sway him from his sadistic nature after all. But that day Harrison had been just as angry at the muggles and knowing that accusations were the last thing his friend needed, he had – he had burned down the whole place. Years later Little Hangelton had been one of the first muggle villages to be raided and destroyed. On that burned ground they had build Dark Manor, as a defiant reminder of their half blood origin, a symbol that they had overcome their painful past.

Riddle Manor was no more. And still it was clearly the place Tom was hiding in now.

Harrisons thoughts whirled around. What was the meaning of this? Did Marvolo somehow travel back in time? But the room looked old and dusty, not as bright as clean as it had been with the Riddles. Harrison knew the house had been build by them and still it looked like there hadn't lived anyone for decades.

A shiver ran down his spine. Marvolo was _really _gone. He was at a place none could reach him. Except, maybe...

Harrison took a deep breath. They had only done this once or twice. It was an incredibly uncomfortable way of traveling that usually left them in a... undignified pose. But it may be a way to reach him.

When apparating a wizard had to concentrate on a specific place. It had to be one he had been to at least once already to be able to properly picture it. However with their connection Harrison and Marvolo had been able to not to use a place but a person as the anchor. They were using their horcruxes to do so. Those pieces were still connected like a rubber band that had been stretched a long way. Now all this little trick did was to release all the tension so that the band would spring back into place. That way they had been able to apparate to each other even through the strongest wards. Apparation in theory could be seen as a dematerialization of the wizard after which he traveled with incredible speed to the place he wished to be. That was the main reason why they weren't able to pass wards. When using the horcrux connection however they didn't exactly pass any distance, they just... appeared. This method wasn't bound to a specific place and as long as the connection was open and he could feel the current Marvolo, it shouldn't be bound to time either.

Having made his decision Harrison closed his eyes and concentrated on the connection as much as he could. He could feel the horcrux pulsing inside of his chest like a second heart. Then he _pulled._

Suddenly he was losing the ground under his feet. He could practically _feel _himself being thrown through time and space and the next thing he knew he landed on top of Marvolo, their bodies a twisted mess of limbs.

Marvolo let out a pained sound of annoyance as his head met the ground hard, before glaring at the intruder.

"Harrison!", he hissed angrily. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Checking up on your lazy ass", he replied sourly and freed himself of the mess.

"As impatient as ever, what the hell were you-"  
"You were _gone_, Marvolo! No one knew were you were, what the resistance had done to you! And then I saw you at a place that shouldn't exist anymore, what was I supposed to think?"

Marvolo stared at him. He stared some more and slowly an expression Harrison hadn't known even existed in his repertoire formed on his face. Horror.

~_What have you done?~, _he hissed, not able to express that kind of feeling in English. "Harrison!" he stood up abruptly, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "Please tell me you didn't use our connection to come here!"

Now hearing Lord Voldemort saying 'please' was such a unexpected move that Harrison just gaped at him for some moments.

Marvolo growled and let go of him, turning around and pinching his nose in barely controlled desperation.

"Have you _any _idea what you've done? Why didn't you at least talk to me beforehand?"

"If you wanted to talk you could have given me a message, could you not?", he snapped. "Now what the hell is this about?"

"The resistance... they threw me into an alternate universe, Harrison! It's like a parallel world, one were things went different... One were we don't rule Britain together."

"Well, that sucks. But-"  
"Don't you understand!", he called angrily. "How many alternate universe you think there are? Hundreds! Thousands! Millions of universes! Every single time a decision is made a universe is split off. I could have easily gone back to you through the connection. It was the only reason I stayed, because I was curious, because I wanted to learn from this world. I would have been back with you at the end of the day. But now you're here too. Now we don't have any connection to our world anymore. Even if we somehow find a way to travel to another universe, which is like ten times as difficult as just traveling through time, how are we supposed to find our home universe?!"

Harrison gaped at him. "I – I didn't know that, alright? You could have fricking told be, it's not my fault you got carried away!" Although he doubted that had been the only reason he stayed. With that whole mess in his mind Marvolo had to have some doubts if it was even possible for him to return.

Marvolo let out an angry hiss and threw his book away.

"Either way", he said finally, "looks like we're stuck here for now. Finding a way back will need some time..."

"Why bother?", Harrison asked and sat down on a dusty old chair. "Let's just find past selves in this world and help them to conquer Britain. We were good as a team – but how much faster could we subdue the continent if there were actually _four _of us?"

"It's not that easy", Marvolo snapped. "This universe is different from ours – very much different. The decision that split off our universe... I'm not exactly sure yet but I might have found it. It was Albus Dumbledores decision to try to get the horcrux out of you when you were one year old."

Harrison stared at him blankly. "Does that mean..."  
He nodded. "Exactly. You were never pulled back in time to live with me."

That... was unexpected.

"Wait, so that means... What year do we have again?"  
"It's still the same date as in our world."

"So that would mean, I'm... I mean, my alternate self is like, what, five years old?"  
"Make it six. But that's not the only difference." Marvolo pointed to a book named _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts._ "Because we did not rule together there was no one knowledgeable... or willing enough to bring me back either. _My _alternate self is still lurking somewhere out there waiting to be revived."  
"That's horrible!"

"It is, isn't it?"  
"I'm fucking six years old! Wait, who do I even live with then?"  
"Is that the only part you got?"

"Well, I'm sorry but you _did _kill my parents, you kind of deserve it."

"Oh, thank you very much for you condolences!", Marvolo snapped sarcastically.

Harrison shook his head. "I still don't get it... Sure, death is an unpleasant matter, but with a whole five years of time you should be able to come back on you own account, shouldn't you?"

"What do I know? Maybe my alternate self is just stupid."

"Perfectly understandable, you didn't grow up with my genius to rub off on you", Harrison smirked.

"Very funny, indeed."

"I try my best."

"You know, if things doesn't work out with you emperor carrier this time, you could always go for being a comedian."

"Well, that _is _a though that crossed my mind before."

Marvolo shook his head. "Be that as it may, if we want to find a way back we need more research material. We need connections, the support of wizards who work in certain branches, money..."  
"In short, we need to build up our network again."  
Marvolo signed. "Yes, we do. We have to start over from the beginning. It won't be easy. We'll have more enemies then supporters in the beginning. Dumbledore, for example..."  
"Dumbledore is still alive? Well, that wouldn't be too much of a problem. He was killed easily enough after all."

"I would have never though that laving his lemon drops with poison would actually work..."

Harrison grimaced. "Well, it was meant to be a prank more then anything else. It probably wouldn't have worked if it weren't for Snape giving him a fake antidote."

At that Marvolo snickered. "Yes, the old fool was so convinced that dear Severus would cling on the memory of his beloved Lily so much that he would never betray the light."

"He didn't take into account that Lily Potter sacrificed herself for _me _and that thus it was my life he wanted to protect. A life Dumbledore attempted to take from me when I was only one year old... He never really forgave the old man for it."  
"That and Severus is just naturally dark. The mudblood was dead anyway, he probably only used her as an excuse to come back to us."

Harrison scowled. "I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling my mother a mudblood."  
"But she was."  
"That's not the point! I'm not calling your father an unworthy piece of filth either."  
"I wouldn't have a problem with it if you did. It's the truth after all."

"No, you would only strangle me for reminding you of it."

"Maybe a little", Marvolo gave in. "Now, don't get off track again, We should make our plans now. We need a new identity, a background story and other resources..."

"Hey, I have an idea! Marvolo Riddle still had his followers, hadn't he?"  
"Well, he was only going by the name of Lord Voldemort and his war was almost entirely brutal, not politic, but yes, he did have his followers. The Death Eaters."  
"The what?"  
"The Death Eaters. His equivalent for the Knights of Walpurgis, I suppose. Personally I think it does have a certain ring to it..."  
"It sounds ridiculous. Who would ever fear the Corpse Crunchers?"  
"Death Eaters, Harrison."  
"That's the same! Anyway, if me not traveling back in time is the difference that triggered this universe, then our past selves would still be the only living parselmouths, right?"

"Yes..."

"So you could just pretend to be your own son, stepping out of the shadows after a long time of traveling, now that he thinks his evil father is gone for good. It would sway his old followers towards you and the Light... Well, it cant really do anything against you as long as you stay on the legal side of the law. And that you could easily do, at least in the first phase. Being a Parselmouth would be enough proof. You could also go through the blood tests of Gringotts, claiming his vaults which would give us the money we need. You're certainly old enough to have a son that is about the age we look like."

"My alternate self would certainly hate me for that", Marvolo replied. "Besides, such a thing would require for me to reveal my parentage, were the name Riddle comes from..."

"All the better. You could claim the title Lord of Slytherin. I know you always wanted to but by the time you were strong enough to pass the magical test Gringotts had isolated himself. This could be a chance for you."

"Is that what you want to do too? Claim the name of Lord Potter?"

Harrison shrugged. "By the time I found out who my parents were, I didn't need that title anymore. And now... Now it would be as is I'd steal it from my past self. Although I suppose he could inherit it from me again. Or something like that. I mean, it's totally believable that you never told anyone you had a son, but a new Potter appearing out of the blue would raise suspicions. Especially since they're so famous now. So no, I think I'll stay with Harrison Evans. But maybe I could pretend to be a relative on my mothers side, who was in truth a descendent of a long line of squibs originating from a small branch of Slytherin line... then I wouldn't have to hide my Parsel either..."

"To make it believable that such a long lost gift was found again in you you'd have to have at least one very powerful magical parent with a pure bloodline in tow."

"Aw, you're right. Then we are at Harry Potter again."  
"I wouldn't say that." Marvolo pulled a big tome out of the pile he had at his feet. It contained numerous family trees of ancient wizarding families.

"See", he said, showing him the tree of the Blacks.

"Your grandmother paternal was a Black. That's close enough to claim a relation when it comes to Gringotts blood tests. And all the other Blacks today are either married females, dead, disowned, in prison or a mix of it. No one there to discredit you should you pretend to be a Black – stepping forward just now, after the recent death of Walburga Black", he pointed at the Data under the sign 'deceased' by the name in the book, "to claim your heritage and take upon the title of Lord Black. Which you hadn't planned beforehand cause you're a halfblood and if anyone knew of you you'd be disowned."

"That... could actually work", Harrison said, studying the book.

"Don't be so surprised."

"So that's what we'll be doing then? Harrison Evans-Black and Marvolo Riddle-Slytherin. The Dark Duo anew?"

"You know, I hate that nickname. I mean, we got it in school, how the hell did it stuck for such a long time?"

"That's because it's an awesome name. - Marvolo, even if we build up our old network again, be it in order to gain information to go back or to just rule over this world – what do we do with out past selves?"  
"They're out alternate selves, not our past selves. And well, if I'm using his resources, my alternate self won't be very happy with me. I think we should get rid of him."  
"But he's you!"  
"He's not. I know myself very well, Harrison, and I can tell you as a matter of fact that I do not welcome concurrence."  
"You welcomed me", Harrison pointed out.

"That's because you are...", he hesitated, "...special. In a way. This is different. I won't share the world with yet another powerful wizard, I refuse. And even if I didn't, then he would. Growing up without... you, he's even less used to sharing then me. Even is he accepted to help us in turn for having a new body he'd only search for a way to sent us back and, failing to find one, try to kill us. We can search for a possibility on our own without that risk."

"Alright... It's your choice, I guess. But what about my past self? I don't want to kill me!"  
"It's your alternate self again, Harrison! I refuse to think of you as a six year old. The boy will likely be hailed as some kind of hero of the light." He tipped at another book. "They're calling him the boy-who-lived. Apparently because he survived Voldemorts Killing Curse. He's still young and impressionable though so we might be able to get him away from that path. Presuming we stay here for more then a few month that is."

"Alright then. I suppose that meas... Next stop is Gringotts, isn't it?"

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Two days later Harrison stood in the middle of Diagon Alley and wondered what to do next. Claiming the Title or Lord Black had been no problem. He did have the blood relation after all. The goblins had been satisfied to see that the most ancient and noble house wasn't extinct yet. As per law when a family didn't leave a heir all their money went to the ministry after one hundred years. Having another Head of House meant that the goblins could keep the money a little longer. Even more so since Harrison had allowed them to manage the savings of 100,000 galleons on their own for the next five years. He didn't think he'd need it, not as long as he still had the family vault.

It earned him the reluctant gratitude of the goblins so they had agreed on his second demand. They allowed him to undergo their warding exam.

Professional wardeners were usually ministry employees but everyone knew that Gringotts had the higher standards. By taking that exam (and breaking a record with his scores, of course) he proofed himself to be an exceptionally wardener. It didn't matter that he had no OWLs or NEWTs to show. That way he could work as a freelancer, taking orders from whoever he wanted to. He had made a second contract with the goblins over it, however. If they got a job for him they'd contact him but it was his choice whenever or not he wanted to accept it. In that case the goblins got 20% of the pay. It was good enough to build up a reputation and establish himself as a member of this society.

Marvolo had gone a similar way. His wizarding family had been very poor. The Gaunts sold everything of value they had centuries ago. They did, however, still have a claim of the title Lord of Slytherin. They would have sold that ages ago too, if it weren't for the fact that in order to claim the title or to sell it, one had to undergo a number of tests set up by Salazar Slytherin himself. Only a parselmouth, of course, and only a very skilled, magically powerful wizard with lots of intelligence could ever hope to even survive, let alone pass it.

Marvolo managed easily.

Although the title didn't come with any money or possessions Marvolo did gain the right to claim one a seat on the Wizardgamot and on the School Governors Board of Hogwarts. Also he now had ownership over 25% of Hogwarts, which included he had the right to chose the Head of House for Slytherin as well as chose which subject that person taught. He also had a veto right for all teachers that were hired, meaning he could fire them at once too except in case two other owners voted against it. Since he was the only current owner in action, that point was void.

Since Marvolo had the same problem (namely a lacking of school-leaving qualification) he underwent another of Gringotts exams to prove himself as a professional curse breaker.

Although they both finished their exams on the same day Marvolo said he still wanted to do something else, acting all mysterious over it.

So that was why Harrison was on his own right now. Not knowing what else to do he decided that he could as well search for his past self. He was incredibly curious what he would be like. Yesterday he had asked the goblins if he had any living relatives. It turned out there were four cousins in total: Bellatrix Lestrange, married and imprisoned, Narcissa Malfoy, married with one son, Andromeda Tonks, married with one daughter and disowned and Sirius Black, imprisoned and disowned. It had come as quite a shock for him that Regulus Black, who had been his second-in-command and almost something resembling a friend to him, had died in this time line. He just couldn't figure out why that was.

When he had not-so-discretely asked about his relation to Harry Potter the goblins had only dryly answered that he was no closer related to him then the Weaselys. Who could have claimed the title just as easily, if they didn't seemed to be allergic to everything remotely dark. That was the downside of pretending to originate from a side branch of the family with parents that had lived on the continent for years.

Either way he didn't get any information out of them. Browsing through several books that described the story of little Harry defeating big bad Voldemort didn't help him either. Since he wanted to consult Marvolo before stepping out in the open he couldn't go to the ministry for the files. Out of pure desperation he started to search for his mothers side of the family; the Evans. Maybe they would know something about where their grandchildren went to?

A lot of confusing and memory charms were needed to get to the confidential files. Finally he found sixteen Lily Evans around the age of his mother in England. He didn't know if the date of death or marriage of muggleborn witches was recorded in the muggle world but he was lucky; there was indeed a Lily Evans married to a James Potter.

Unfortunately her parents were dead.

He had already assumed that much but it was still a disappointment. The only living relative was a certain Petunia Dursley, sister to Lily Potter who was clearly a muggle.

Deciding that since he already went so far he might as well check it out to the end. So Harrison searched for the Dursley's address in a phone book and apparated to Little Whinging.

Strolling down the path of Privet Drive he came to the Number Four. The house couldn't be discerned from any of the others in the street. There was no individuality, no sign that in that perfectly clean little house lived an actually family and not a bunch of robots.

Harrison stepped forward, glad that he had chosen his black traveling cloak today that was sporting buttons at the front over a gray vest so the outfit wouldn't attract to much attention in the muggle world.

He stood at the white fence irresolutely. Everything in him bucked against entering such a disgusting place. It was then that he saw a movement at the side and watching it more closely he saw a scrawny little boy bend over the rose bushes, pulling off the weeds.

Harrison stared at him. Without further though he opened the gate and came to stand next to the boy. At first the child who looked like four but Harrison knew he was six, didn't seem to notice him. But then, slowly, he looked up, jerking away from him.

It was astonishing. Harrison could see the resemblance immediately, even with the many differences they sported. Harry's hair was short and ruffled, a wild mob that was dirty with some leafs still in it from the gardening. Harrison's hair was also black and quite untamable but he had managed by letting it grow, binding it in his neck in an aristocratic way.

They had the same unmistakeably shade of killing curse green eyes, but while Harrison's were glowing with power and experience, Harry's were big and round. You could still see the shadow of innocence in them but there was also a great amount of pain, sorrow and above all, loneliness.

His glasses were big and round and cracked at one or two spots. Harrison remembered his life being quite blurred back in his childhood, until he had let his eyes be fixed when finding out about Hogwarts.

They had the same podgy knees, the same small build. But Harry was ridiculously thin, even more so then Harrison had been during to the meager meals the orphanage gave their children. His far to large second-hand clothes made him seem even smaller. His knees were dirty and sore from kneeling on the ground all day and his fingertips were bloody from having to tend the roses without gloves.

And there, barely visible behind his bangs, was the lighting-shaped curse scar.

"I-I'm sorry, Sir!", the boy said with a high, terrified voice.

Harrison asked himself what the hell he was sorry for. That kid was obviously not taken care of properly and he wanted to kill the people who did this to him so much.

"Don't be", he whispered and kneeled down by the boy.

"My name is Harrison E- Black", he said, correcting himself at the last moment. Claiming the title of Lord Black came with a new name and as a result a new pass, a far to good chance to pass up.

"Who are you?"

"I-I'm, uh, I'm just a boy", he murmured. "Do you want to go to my uncle? He's at work right now."

"I'm searching for one Harry Potter", he replied, mockingly looking around. "Have you seen him anywhere?"

"I dunno."

"Maybe you are him? You certainly look as though you could be", he said with a friendly smile.  
"M-my aunt and uncle sometimes call me hairy..."

Harrison blinked. Could it be that this child... _this _child, that _he – _did not know...!?

"What is you name, young one?"

The child shifted uncomfortably. "Uh..."  
"What do your relatives call you?", he tried a different approach.

"Well... boy... or hairy, or stupid, or brat, or freak!" His voice got louder with every word and now tears were springing from his eyes. "I'm a freak", he sobbed again.

Oh, those people would pay. Death wasn't bad enough for them! He wanted to _torture _them.

No, he told himself, not yet. One day, you will, but not yet.

Harrison stood up again.

"Is your aunt home, Harry?", he asked, forcing a smile on his face.

"Uhm, yeah, she's probably sleeping..."

He nodded. "Kid, your name is Harry Potter. I know that because you look just like your father. He was a relative of mine and so are you. I do not think that this place is suited for you. In fact, I would like to take you with me."

He smiled again, laying a hand on the trembling shoulder of the child. "Would you like to come with me, Harry?"

"I- I do!", he exclaimed and did it not tell you lots when a child agreed to just go with a complete stranger for nothing but a kind smile. "B-But... my uncle won't allow it, and... and I'm always so much trouble."  
"Let me take care of that", Harrison said. "I will be back in an hour at most. You better pack your things, hatchling."

Harry scowled at the odd nickname, but didn't seem to have a second though over abandoning his roses, running to the house to get his things packed.

Harrison didn't lose any time either. Marvolo would probably skin him for it but he couldn't just let his past self stay in a horrible place like that. He just couldn't.

Harrison apparated back to London. Again his magic helped him to cross the normal hindrances and when he came back to Privet Drive he had the official documents for a muggle adoption with him. It was entirely possible that Harry Potter had two guardians, one muggle and one magical. But with him adopting Harry the muggle way both guardianships would automatically go to him, since he was a wizard. Harrison couldn't imagine that no precautions had been made for this case. Even though Harry was really special to the light, any Corpse Cruncher could have walked in here and talked the Dursleys into giving up on their nephew. Or just tortured them until they did.

That was at least what he had first though but when he went back to the house he spend more time on analyzing the magic surrounding it. He had to ask himself how he didn't notice it beforehand. The house practically glowed with magic from a set of very powerful wards. Blood wards, he recognized, one that was set to repel any and all dark wizards. Now, that certainly explained why the kid had been placed here. Harrison was dark himself but of course the wards wouldn't detect him. He was the one they were supposed to protect after all. Somehow. Coming back to the house he heard infernal shouting from within. He knocked at the door but over the noise nobody seemed to hear it. A quick Alohomora got rid of the problem.

"I don't want to hear anything of your nonsense!", a woman (probably Petunia) screamed.

"But it's true! The Sir came and said he'd get me to live with him! He said he was a relative!"  
"You don't have any relatives, brat! Your parents are dead, nobody will ever come to get you. Who'd want such an ungrateful brat anyways?"

"But – but-"  
"Go into your cupboard, boy! There will be no dinner for you today."

Cupboard!? Oh, this disgusting, worthless, big-headed piece of _filth. _

"Excuse me, Madame?"

Petunia turned around and, seeing him, her face became an ugly shade of green.

"My name is Harrison Black. I am a relative of Mr James Potter and thus I have a certain responsibility towards your nephew."

Petunia went from green to white as a sheet.

"B-But he has no other family!", she screeched. "It said so in the letter!"

"Which letter?", he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The – The letter that was with him when I found him on the doorstep."  
"Well, I am sorry to inform you that Mr Potter was kidnapped from the house of his parents after their death from an unknown person, who will most certainly have to answer for his or her crimes in front of the Wizardgamot." Petunia almost fainted at the mere mention of something like a _Wizardgamot. _"Mr Potter was certainly not supposed to be here. It took me several years" - more like several hours - "to track him down." He forced a pleasantly smile on his face. "I understand that you had a lot of work with him – and from what I got from young Harry-", she grew even paler, "you weren't enjoying having to take care of him. That's why I offer you a solution."

He pulled out the documents and laid them on the table.

"Those are perfectly legal adoption documents. All I need is your signature. Then I will take Mr Potter with me and you never have to see him again."

Petunia hesitated for a moment. "I don't have to – but what about that man – Dumbledore? He wrote that I must keep him! I don't want any of your queer folk to turn up on my doorstep to ask questions!"

"Oh, so the kidnapper's name is Dumbledore?" He pretended to be surprised. "I thank you for that information. "I will certainly look into this. You don't have to worry about it."

Little Harry wisely kept his mouth shut although Harrison could see that there were thousands of questions on his tongue.

Since Petunia still seemed to sway between wanting to get rid of young Harry and fear of being exposed to even more wizards, Harrison helped her by subtly amplifying her wish to sign via legilimency. He might have _slightly _overdone it, he noticed, as she grabbed the paper, frantically searching for a pen. Harrison promptly provided one for her and a few moments later Harry Potter was officially his adopted son. The though was... weird, to say the least but one look at the little hopeful kid got rid of all doubts. It had been the right decision.

"Come on, Harry", he said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Let's come with me to your new home – and then I'll tell you all about wizards."


	3. Welcome into the family

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: ~Blabla~ is Parseltongue. Ha, who would've guessed?

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

„Well then, Harry, welcome to your new home."

„Uh... it looks nice?"

Harrison scowled at him, making the kid flinch.

"It looks like a ramshackle, haunted old house, hatchling. That's what you're thinking, 'cause that's what it is. Well, except for the haunted part. I don't think I saw any ghosts in here..." He patted the younger one's shoulder, smiling. "But don't worry, hatchling, we're fixing it up with magic pretty fast. You can even pick the color of your room."

"I get an own room?", little Harry asked with big eyes.

"Of course you do."

Suddenly Harry bit his lip and looked down. "B-but what do you mean, fixing it by... by m-magic?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, stupid", he sneered and drew his wand.

"See? That's what wizards like we use to channel our magic. A wand is the most important thing to a wizard – so no, you can't borrow it. Best you forget everything your filthy aunt and and uncle told you about magic. They're muggles, non-magical people who don't understand a thing about our world. You, however, are a wizard, just like your parents were."

"You knew my parents!", Harry called and somehow that seemed to be more important to him then the magic-thing.

Harrison signed. "Actually, I never got to know them, no. I made some researches a long time ago... But I'm afraid I can't tell you much. Now do you want to see me do magic or not?"  
Harry nodded hesitantly.

Harrison lifted his wand and pointed it at the old manor that looked indeed pretty run-down. A flick of his wand and a muttered word however turned the rotten wood into white stone, ranged with pitch black lines like a spiders web. The windows repaired and cleaned themselves, the roof got new shingles and the front law was rid of all weeds.

Harry watched in awe as Harrison did his magic and the old house turned into something that to a little child that knew nothing but a cupboard, seemed to be a palace.

"That's so cool!", he called excitingly. "It's like – like – like magic!"

Harrison snickered. "I told you so. Now come in, we need to fix the rooms."

The house looked just as bad from the inside as it did on the outside. Cobwebs were everywhere, dust and dirt covered the floor and the broken furniture. Harrison led his ward into the kitchen first. A quick _Scourgify _got rid of the dirt, followed by multiple _Reparos_ and then some transfiguration to make the furniture less muggle. The same he did for the living room, the dining hall, the three offices, four bathrooms, the master bedroom and the five smaller ones, the library, the cellar and even the store room. All the time Harry followed him, calling out in awe when he did something particularly cool. Sometimes Harrison let him pick the color of the walls or the style of the furniture – and the kid was very creative in doing so. When Harrison added a little tower in the third and last floor, explaining it to be an owlery for the pets he wished to buy soon, he used the chance to explain everything about wizarding communication to his ward. Harry was delighted to hear that there was a whole world of magical people and that he now belonged to it. It was, after all, a childs dream come true. After overcoming his first shyness and fear he asked lots of question. Did dragons really exist? What about unicorns and fairies? What did wizards do as a living? What had his parents done? Did wizards use flying motorcycles for traveling? (Where the hell did that come from?)

At the end of the day little Harry had an own room painted in white and dark blue with a gigantic four-poster bed, noble furniture made out of ebony that Harrison planned on filling with lots of new clothing, as well as some transfigured wizarding toys. They wouldn't hold that long but it was enough until he could go shopping with him. He told the child to rest and come down for dinner at seven.

For the rest of the time he began warding the house. Up until now it only had some basic muggle-repelling charms so the people in the village wouldn't wonder why the old manor changed so much. But Harrison also needed wards against vermin in, well, the whole house really, as well as some to make it weather- and fireproof. And that was not even mentioning the vast amount on safety wards he planned on layering it with. Harrison planned on buying a house elf or two, because really, he knew next to nothing about taking care of a child and he had never been particularly fond of householding spells either. But that would have to wait until tomorrow. For now he had to prepare the meal himself which resulted in some salty scrambled eggs. Yet to little Harry it seemed to be the best food he ever had. Sadly, it probably was.

It was in the middle of their meal Harrison suddenly felt Marvolo, his other half draw nearer. During to the abruptness of his arrival, he had probably used the floo. Which meant he had gone to the ministry to connect their new manor to the system. Was that what he had been doing today?

Hearing the footsteps in the floor he suddenly began sweating. Marvolo would _not _be happy seeing their guest. Less then ever if he heard that it was a _permanent _guest.

Crap.

Harrison stood.

"Harry, why don't you go to your room now."  
"B-But I'm not finished yet", the boy said.

"You can take your meal upstairs, just-"  
But it was to late.

The door opened and Marvolo stepped in. Harrison had wisely positioned himself between him and his ward, not enough to hide him from view but certainly enough to stop any attack he might attempt.

"My, what a surprise", Harrison called smiling. "You came home just in time for dinner."

Marvolos gaze passed little Harry and his eyes narrowed.

"I already ate", he said, "but I doubt I drank so much, yet I'm seeing double. Care to explain?"

On the outside he seemed calm enough but Harrison, who was connected to him in a way two people had never been before, knew the truth. He felt his carefully suppressed anger, his stress and annoyance. This would be difficult. It wasn't like he never ever had any difficult situations with Marvolo. His life practically consisted of nothing but difficult situations ever since Marvolo had acknowledged him as his partner. He would get through this too.

"Well, you see, this is little Harry Potter. Little Harry, this is Marvolo Slytherin. He lives here together with me."  
"Hello Mr Slytherin", Harry said smiling.

Wow. That sounded weird.

"I'm asking again, Harrison, _what does he do here?" _The last part was hissed in parseltongue. Always a bad sign.

"Well – you see – I went to look for him, you know, out of curiosity. And he lived with his muggle relatives. Muggles! They were horrible. I mean, what would you have done?"

"I certainly wouldn't have picked him up like some kind of stray dog!", Marvolo hissed furiously. "Gods, what are we, a happy family? Will you be Mummy and I'll be Daddy and we'll pretend as if everything is alright? As if all of this isn't some kind of twisted disaster we're in?"

Silence.

Harrison glared at him, angrily sending him mind-messages to take this out into the hall, anywhere but not in front of the kid.

Suddenly little Harry spoke up.

"You can both be my Daddy if you want to", he said with that kind of innocence only a child is able to express.

Harrison couldn't hold it any longer. He laughed.

"See", he meant, snickering quietly. "We can both be his Daddy. Problem solved."

Marvolo seemed to be on the brink of murdering someone.

"Hatchling, why don't you go upstairs? It's late already."  
Harry didn't seem to happy but complied anyway.

"And don't forget to brush your teeth!", he called after him. Only when he heard the noise of his footsteps becoming quieter he turned back to Marvolo.

"Look, Vol, I really had no other choice", he tried. "Those people treated him like vermin. He was sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, for gods sake! I checked it, they had a perfectly good second bedroom that was used for storage! He had to do all kind of chores and you saw how skinny he is. He didn't even know his own name because he was so used to insults! I couldn't leave him there. We don't even expose mudbloods to such surroundings, taking them into orphanages. But in this world there are none, so..."

"So you just took him in? Harrison, I know you have this hero-complex sometimes-"  
"I do not!"  
"-but would you just think about what you're doing for once? That boy is famous, his absence will be noticed."  
"A got him legally adopted, alright?"  
"You did _what_?!"

"Sure did! There was no other possibility! It was Dumbledore who put him there and remember what kind of power he had over people? Nobody would have taken him in, even if I were to tell people what happened there. It's because of those crazy blood wards. I suppose they would be a pretty useful protection against you or anything dark. People would hear that and think nothing his own family could do to the boy would be as bad as what you would. But I know how that is to grow up without a proper childhood and I don't want that to happen to him! Can't you understand that?"

"I – I do, alright? You could have just... threatened them or something, so they would treat him better. It was not necessary to take him here. Soon it will be made public that we have claimed two of the most ancient and most dark titles there are. Everyone will look upon us. The Light will think you kidnapped the boy, to kill or maim him or teach him to be the next Dark Lord. But the dark families themselves, they aren't that stupid. They'll see that you care for the boy and they will take that as a weakness."

"Oh come on, as if they could seriously threaten me in some way!"  
"That's not the point. We were as successful as we were because we were invincible. Besides they _could _threaten you, because you are him!"

"So now we're suddenly the same as our alternate selves, are we?"  
"By taking him in you're endangering him!"  
"This isn't about danger! He can take a little risk, I'll just protect him. Threatening his relatives wouldn't do anything 'cause it's not just that he needs three meals a day and clean clothing. He's a child and he needs love! That's what he could never get in that place, that's why I had to take him in."  
Marvolo laughed hollowly. "Love? Honestly?" He stepped forward. Harrison refused to flinch under his threatening gaze. "You're the Dark Prince, Harrison. Do you remember? Do you remember what that means? It means you're a murderer. It means you killed, you tortured and you made people do even more horrible things in your name. You really think after all that... That someone like you is even _capable _of love?"

"Counterquestion", Harrison said, coming closer towards him until there was barely an inch between them. "Have you, Marvolo, ever loved someone? Have you, in your entire life, ever loved _anyone _other then yourself?"

The dark wizard looked into his eyes challengingly.

"No", he said clearly and without a doubt.

"See", Harrison whispered. "That's the point, right there. 'Cause even if I'm just like you, that does in no case except that I am perfectly capable of loving myself."

Marvolo stared at him. "You really want to pull that through, don't you?"

"I do."

The Dark Lord pinched his nose and let out a sigh.

"Fine", he snapped finally. "He can stay."

"Well, now, isn't that awesome."

"But you're the one responsible for him!"

"Of course."  
"I don't want to have anything to do with that child."

Harrison rolled his eyes. "Understood."  
"I mean it! If you can't control him I'm dropping him on the street. On a highway, in fact."

"Vol?"  
"Ye-"  
"Shut up."

And just like that Marvolo found his lover's lips on his. He was pushed against the wall and Harrisons mouth wandered lower, to his throat, his neck, unbuttoning his robe...

"Don't you dare thinking you can blackmail me with _that_...", Marvolo hissed as he clawed his fingers in the back of his neck, leaving angry red marks.

"Don't know what you're talking about", Harrison said grinning. "You simply made you boyfriend a very happy man today. Lets receive your reward!"

He whispered a spell, vanishing Marvolos shirt but taking the liberty of freeing him from his belt on himself. The older one not-so-grudgingly accepted his impromptu session and started kissing him in return. A few moments later his hands were in his trousers and gods, those were far to tight by now!

~I see you don't plan on holding back on the... 'adult stuff' with the kid around~, Marvolo hissed, kissing his neck and nibbling his earlobe.

~Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart~, he teased, cutting of Marvolos angry repeat at the nickname by pulling off his trousers. ~What else are privacy wards good for?~

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Two hours later the Dark Duo had somehow managed to get to the masters bedroom. Lying next to each other covered in sweat, looking up at the ceiling and enjoying the aftermath of their escapades each of them followed his own thoughts.

"Now", Harrison finally said, "while I was getting us a noisy little brat to live with, what have you done the whole day?"

Marvolo needed a few moments longer then usual to answer.

"I got myself a job", he said finally.

"Oh, you did?", Harrison exclaimed surprised. "I though you'd work as a curse breaker on occasion for Gringotts like me."

"It's kind of suspicious if both of us do it that way, isn't it? I only made the tests to proof my abilities since I don't have NEWTs."

"Fine then... What kind of job do you have?"  
Another short silence.

"I'll be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, starting in September."

Harrison was shocked. "The fuck – you will _what_!?"

"I don't think I have to repeat myself."  
"But – Marvolo! Have you forgotten that Albus Dumbledore is our greatest enemy? You won't be able to do anything under his nose! He'll watch you like a hawk, that will severely restrict our actions. Why the hell did you do that?"  
"I have my reasons."  
"Oh, and you didn't think that maybe you could discuss that with me beforehand?"  
Marvolo glared at him. "Really, Harrison? Really?"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, yeah, I take that one back."

"I know that you always... wanted to have a family, Harrison", Marvolo whispered, suddenly very serious. "Do not deny that. It was probably the only regret you ever had. You didn't just take the kid in because he's your alternate self. You didn't do it because of the muggles either or because he's the boy-who-lived. You did it because you wanted a child, an heir. Don't you dare judging me for doing the same thing."

Of course Harrison knew that Marvolo loved teaching. Not only because he could show his superior knowledge and have the chance to bash other people, but also because he just liked it. And he was good at it too. Frightening so. In the beginning Harrison and Marvolo had trained their knights themselves. That group later became the best of their soldiers. But as the war drew forward they had to think in bigger dimensions and their job had dwarfed to planning, managing and discussing only interrupted by occasionally leading a raid. It had almost become boring.

But now they were in this new world were no one knew them, where they could start over. Back to zero again. That was their chance to fulfill all those wishes they had never allowed themselves to think about.

Before that whole plan with conquering the world had come up Marvolo had seriously considered just staying at Hogwarts. It had been his home after all. If Dippet hadn't refused that demand on Dumbledores suggestion, who knows...who knows what would have happened.

Now was his chance to make it better. Dumbledore couldn't do anything against him. If Marvolo wanted to he could waltz in there with his title, fire the current house of Slytherin and take the job by himself. Actually, that might just be what he'd done.

"So, teaching, yeah? Does that mean that we're staying for at least a year?", Harrison asked.

"If you're worrying about that curse... You know I was the one to put it there, right? And as I am a professional curse breaker it shouldn't be too suspicious that I'd be able to break it."

Harrison blinked. So Marvolo already planned for a much longer stay, did he? Well... He certainly wouldn't complain.

Suddenly he began to snicker.

"What's it?", Marvolo asked scowling.

"Oh, nothing. Just imagining Big D's face when he saw a spitting image of the Dark Lord walking in on him, demanding to teach little children."

A smile played on Marvolos lips at that. "Yes... that was quite an experience."

* * *

oOoOo Flashback oOoOo

* * *

Albus Dumbledore took another lemon drop and scowled. Before him on the desk in his office laid a list of people. People that he had considered for the once again free spot of the Defense against the Dark Arts position. He had already called most of them, receiving negative answers. Some he had considered but cast away again. That damnable curse... At the beginning it had amused him that the people seemed to be so wary of it. A curse on the teachers position? Laughable! But then year after year the professors dropped like flies. Even those that said right at the beginning they only wanted to stay for one year suffered from a terrible end. There came a time Dumbledore just couldn't ignore it anymore. He had checked the Hogwarts wards, the defensive professors office and any other place he could think of, searching for the anchor of the curse. Nothing had been found and so he couldn't remove it. Now he had the same problem of finding someone to do the job every year. The professors he found got less and less qualified but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't just drop the subject either.

It was almost three o'clock. He had an interview shortly. Someone had answered on his public announce in the Daily Prophet. He didn't raise his hopes high, though. It was likely that the guy was nothing but a fraud. No, Dumbledore would rather call all the old members of the Order of Phoenix before he took one of those. The headmaster glanced at his calender. What was the name again? He didn't seem to have noted it. Scowling harder he searched for the letter he had received this morning. It was signed with M.S. Curious...

In that moment the flames in his chimney flamed green and a dark figure could be seen forming in them. And into his office stepped – Lord Voldemort.

For a moment Dumbledore actually had trouble closing his mouth. A second later though he was on his feet, wand ready and eyes blazing with fire. He didn't rush into an attack though, rather he carefully accessed the situation. This Voldemort did not look like the snake-like creature the wizard had become shortly before he had begun his war. This man looked more like the still human Tom Riddle. Dark hair, handsome face, stormy gray eyes... He couldn't be older then twenty five. That man hadn't triggered any of his alarms specifically designed to recognize that aura. There were a few trinkets blinking, screaming 'dark magic' at him but it was not the sickly, twisted kind of sacrilege Voldemort had committed.

The posture of the man was absolutely calm. He didn't show any sign of aggressiveness. His occlumency shields were practically unbreakable, like Voldemorts had been and they both carried themselves with the same self-consciousness and elegance but even so the headmaster had concluded within seconds that they couldn't be the same person.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore", the man greeted with a charming, oh so familiar smile. He even stuck out his hand for him to shake, seemingly not noticing the stiff posture of the headmaster.

"My Name is Marvolo Slytherin." And as Dumbledore still made no sign of shaking his hand, he added: "You did receive my letter of application, didn't you? We had a meeting scheduled."

Dumbldedore shook himself out of his stupor and took the offered hand, although he was very carefully looking out for curses.

"Of course, my excuses. I seemed to have been lost in though."

Was this some kind of Double? A clone? Had Voldemort somehow copied himself? What a terrible disaster that would be! The world had barely been able to handle one of them. But that surname ...It couldn't be a coincidence.

"So, Mr Slytherin..."

"Lord."  
"Excuse me?"  
"It's Lord Slytherin. I was at Gringotts yesterday, claiming the title. Of course I would be happy to exchange it for an 'professor' soon, if we can come to an agreement."

Dumbledore pretended to study the letter he got, just to avoid those damnable eyes. "Of course. I'm sorry, I did not know that there was anyone left of that line. It's been at least three hundred years since it has been claimed last. As it happens I only know of one line who still carries enough blood of that kind to do so and I've never heard of a Marvolo your age in it." He gave the man a sharp look over the bridge of his glasses.

Slytherin just leaned back, completely relaxed. "Does this have anything to do with my application, Sir?"

"Since claiming such a title without having the right to do so would be a criminal act I do think it does, yes."

Even their smirks were identical! It was infuriating.

"I suppose with 'Blood of that kind' you mean the ability to speak parseltongue", Slytherin said, "and the last line to carry it would be the Gaunts."  
"Whose last living heir is none other then Lord Voldemort himself, if I'm correct", Dumbledore answered sharply.

Slytherin didn't flinch at the mention of the name. Not even the _slightest_.

"Well, you are not. _I _am the last living heir and I have claimed what is my birthright." He shook his head. "I wanted to be nice to you, Dumbldedore, but if you can't look past my family and swallow that petty prejudice of yours we can do it the hard way just as well. I do own part of Hogwarts now after all and as Lord Slytherin you have absolutely no right to deny me my post at this school should I chose to take it. Which I do, if you haven't noticed. Just because my father was a mad, murdering megalomaniac doesn't mean-"

Suddenly Dumbldedore felt very cold.

"Wait, you _father!? _Are – Are you saying that you are Voldemorts _son!?"_

Slytherin gave him an odd look. "What, don't you see the resemblance? I though you knew what he was like before he turned into a monster. I was told I look a lot like him."

"I..." But for the first time in what felt like ages he had no words. It was just so... ridiculous. The sheer conception of _Voldemort _having a _son – _No. It was hilarious.

"Actually I though you might be Voldemort himself coming back from the dead." He wanted to let it sound lighthearted but his voice was tense and he had to choke on the words.

Slytherin actually looked indignant. "Now, by all means, if that's what you though you should have avada'ed me on the spot, shouldn't you? What if I actually _were _Voldemort and you would've just stood there gaping like a fish?" He winked at him. _Winked. _Bloody hell.

Then again... Maybe this was a good sign. Voldemort wouldn't make such jokes. He wouldn't act so careless, even if it was just a mask. He was a sadistic madman but that was exactly the cause why he didn't posses this kind of black humor - to make "avada", part of the incantation of the killing curse into a bloody verb! Dumbledore pretty much doubted that the real Voldemort was even capable of joking or even laughing at anything other then bloody corpses.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I can expect then that you are out of sorts with your... father?" Gods, that sounded weird.

"It's not as if I ever really got to know him. But I _do_ expect to have a certain protection within Hogwarts should he ever come back. He'd hunt me down for sure, even if it's just because I claimed the title _he _never was good enough for. Actually I would love to see his face when he hears I even exist. I hope he gets a heart attack. It would serve him right..."

Albus Dumbledore had absolutely _no _idea what to make out of this guy. Was he really Voldemorts son? If he wasn't he sure as hell was a plan of the Dark Lord for him to get back to power... Or gods forbid, he could already be back and this was his first move. But even if Slytherin was telling the truth Dumbledore could not trust him. He pretended to dislike Voldemort but that _smile_, those _eyes, _his whole behavior screamed Slytherin. It was a mask. A bloody infuriating, irritating mask but a mask nonetheless and it was so perfect he couldn't look behind it. He could be lying the blue from the sky or he could be completely honest, only hiding feelings of bitterness and hatred for his father that one would not show to a complete stranger.

But Dumbledore could not prove him wrong and if he had really claimed that title he was right, he could chose any post as a teacher in Hogwarts. But even if he could refuse, making an enemy out of him, it wasn't really the smartest thing to do. He couldn't let someone like that out of his sight after all.

"Well, Howarts is always happy to help those in need", he said, eyes twinkling. "I fear I do not remember you ever learning here?"  
"No, I never attended Hogwarts", Slytherin replied. "I lived in Greece for most of my live. Now rumors tell that a certain someone is hiding in Albania. That was to close for my comfort so here I am now. Of course I know that my certifications would not be accepted in England so I went through some of Gringotts exams. I am now officially a professional curse breaker. Adding to that my experience with dark creatures I came by on my travels I think I am more then ready for the job."  
"Even a little bit overqualified, maybe", Dumbldedore answered, hiding his concern. If Tom Riddle hadn't chosen to gather followers to conquer the world... That story, having lived in another land with a rich magical culture and fauna; traveling around learning about creatures and curses... It was exactly the kind of curriculum vitae he would have expected from the model student Tom Riddle when he came back to take office as a teacher. If what this man said was true... And it had to be if he was able to pass the Gringotts exams... then he had the potential to become just as powerful, if not even more so then Voldemort. It was an alarming thought. Now he almost wished this figure was really Voldemort in disguise, giving him a false background story that was on the one hand so plausible his camouflage was perfect and on the other so ridiculously fitting to the old Riddle that Dumbledore just had to recognize it. As if he was walking in here, practically introducing himself as the Dark Lord smiling because he knew the headmaster couldn't do anything against him. Pure provocation. Of course with that the worst case imaginable - and now that he thought about it, it could very well be the most likely one - would be that the still weak Voldemort had sent this son/double of him to mock Dumbledore and do his evil, preparing for his masters return right under his nose.

But as always the light of hope had to shine above all. He was still young. Still somewhat impressionable. Maybe... Just maybe he could still be changed..

"If you are still determined to take on the job... I will check your references and owl you within the week."

"I would appreciate that", Slytherin said and stood again. "It was nice getting to know you, Professor Dumbldedore. I look forward to a good cooperation with you."

"So do I", Dumbledore murmured. "Yes, I deary hope so..."


	4. Samhain

It was the 1th of September and everything was busy. Little Harry was running up and down the stairs, scaring all the house elves, stressing his new adopted father and constantly asking if he had forgotten anything.

"Salazar, would you calm down already ?!", Harrison called finally. "It's not you who's entering Hogwarts today, it's Uncle Vol. "

"l know that", Harry answered exited. "But it'll still be the first time I get to see the train!"

Next to the stairs Marvolo left his office, looking as though he was about to go to a Quidditch game. Namely quite sour. "I still do not see why I can't floo to Hogsmeade like any other self-respecting wizard would", he murmured.

"It's so that little Harry has his fun", Harrison replied helpfully. "And you do want to make your godson happy, don't you?"

"Actually, I'd rather kiss a flobberworm", came the sour answer.

"Well, if you come with us now, you can kiss me", he offered. "I promise, I taste lots better then a flobberworm."

"My, how would you manage?", Marvolo mock teased.

Harrison just smiled at him affectionately.

"Uncle Vol, where is your trunk?", little Harry asked.

Marvolo glared at him.

Harrison cleared his throat. "Hatchling, wizards generally shrink their luggage or use bottomless bags with featherlight charms to carry it."  
"Oh", little Harry said and went bright red. He had dropped another brick. It happened quite often of course and Uncle Vol would always get mad at him for it. Harrison was mostly amused by his mistakes but he did his best to teach Harry the wizarding way. The little boy was determined not to disappoint him. He wanted to learn everything about the wizarding world. He never wanted to live like a muggle ever gain what with all the wonders this new world showed him. But above all he was scared that maybe Harrison would leave him alone if he didn't do well enough. On first sight that seemed unlikely but Harry was not stupid. He saw how his new father always looked at Uncle Vol, silently apologizing when Harry did something wrong, asking for permission with a glance, always watching him, always choosing his position in the room so he could have an eye on him. Uncle Vol was equally focused on him. They were like a pair of dancers constantly circling each other, trying to predict each others reactions. Although they were teasing each other a lot it was always very careful, never stepping over that invisible line between them. If Uncle Vol really wanted little Harry gone, Harrison would sent him back. That's why it was so important to Harry that Uncle Vol liked him, that he was in his good grades. He had quickly learned that acting as less muggle and childish as possible was the best way for him to do so.

He was living with the two wizards for three weeks now and for him it was like paradise. He had gotten his own room, his own bed and Harrison even went shopping with him for new clothes. He had told him about a magical place called 'Diagon Alley' and promised to take him there next summer. For his birthday he gave Harry a catalog from Flourish and Blotts and he was allowed to order ten books out of it, with some hints from Harrison. Ten books! He had never ever gotten so many birthday presents. Actually, he had never ever gotten even one! He had though he didn't even _have _a birthday.

Harry didn't exactly love reading but the books provided something for him that was essentially for his life now: knowledge. Without knowledge on the wizarding world he would never win Uncle Vol over. So he gladly read everything he could about magical creatures, about so called pureblood mannerisms, history and the system of the world in general, including a very interesting book called _'Hogwarts: A History_'.

For his birthday he also got his own house elf. They got three in total: Cabby, who was responsible for the garden, Nizzel, who did the laundry, general cleaning and was specifically called by Harrison whenever he needed something and Tibbs who was only there for Harry but also did all the cooking. Marvolo, who had never been particularly fond of elves, also used Nizzel when he was at home but at Hogwarts he didn't need an elf anyway.

Having an own servant was such an foreign concept for Harry, who had been a servant himself for most of his life, that he had a hard time accepting that Tibbs reacted very badly to simple words like 'thank you' or 'please'. She used to break into tears, overwhelming him with gratitude and worshiping the ground he walked on. It was very disconcerting. Eventually he got used to just accepting her service as granted.

Accepting Harrison as his new father was a lot easier. The man looked so much like him it was easy to believe they were relatives. Sometimes Harry even though Harrison was really his father and just pretended otherwise because he was ashamed that he left Harry at the muggles. Not that he would be angry at him for it. Just three weeks were enough and he already loved the man.

Harrison often laughed and told jokes although not all of them were really harmless. Even with his young age Harry could see the black humor in them and sometimes he made comments of an even darker nature. Like when he told Harry about the history of witches and wizards in the Middle Ages. How fruitless their hunt on witches had been and how wizards still captured and tortured muggles sometimes to get back on them. When he told him about wizards attending the court of ancient kings, advising but really bewitching them into doing what they wanted them to do, indirectly ruling over the muggles as was their right – then his eyes got that certain gleam and there was a hunger in them he only else had when looking at Marvolo. And then little Harry read about light and dark wizards and without asking he knew to which sort the two belonged to. He was not scared, though. Even when he did something wrong or asked stupid questions or was late for dinner Harrison would scold, but never hurt him. He was never hit, never sent to his room without food, he didn't even have to help the house elves. No, when he angered his guardian he may take away his books or forbid him to leave for the garden or just ignore him for the rest of the day. It only lead to Harry loving him even more and yearning for his approval. His punishments were signs that Harrison loved him too but was disappointed in him. Harry feared those punishments because he didn't want to disappoint, because he didn't want to lose Harrison, didn't want to be sent back.

When Harrison first offered him to call him 'father' he had been delighted. It was every orphans wish come true to have a family. Sometimes when they were alone and Harrison was in a really good mood he would even call him 'Dad'. But never in front of Marvolo, no, because 'Dad' was childish, almost as bad as 'Daddy' which was a no-go. Real pureblood children addressed their parents 'father' and 'mother', at least in public, so that was what he had to call Harrison too.

"Harry, what do you wear there?", his father asked scowling.

Harry looked down at his black wizarding robes confused. "Huh?"  
"The train starts from a muggle station, we have to get there the way mortals do", he chuckled. That was another strange thing of Harrison. Sometimes he would call the muggles (or even weak wizards he detested, like the so called mudbloods) 'mortals'. It was a private joke implying that he, as a wizard, was so much above them like a god was above mortals. (He had no idea that the real joke lied in Harrison and Marvolo being practically immortal to everyone but each other because of the prophecy.)

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'll be changed in a minute", he promised.

Although Harrison sported a scowl at the retard little Harry could see the faintest of smiles tug at Marvolos lips. It pleased him that his godson was already so used to wearing robes that he forgot to change today. Yeah, that smile made it worth it.

When little Harry was out of sight Harrison leaned against the next wall. Lost in though he bit his lower lip, staring down at the floor.

"You seem to have something on your mind", Marvolo said after some time. "What is it?"

"Ah, nothing. It's just... nothing."

"Harrison...", Marvolo said quietly but with a hidden warning.

Harrison blew a stray strand of hair out of his forehead. "It's nothing important. Really, it has time till... you come back for the holidays or something."

Judging after Marvolos look now he wanted to know more then ever.

Harrison just sighed, confirmed that little Harry was still gone and began to explain:  
"It's just that I got a letter of Gringotts today. They're asking me when I plan to visit the family house and whenever or not I want to sell it. I completely forgot that the Blacks would have to have an own house too."

"What kind of house is it?", Marvolo asked curiously.

"Well, it's in the middle of London, hidden in a muggle neighborhood but one that isn't too well-off so no questions are being asked. It's layered with a impressive set of wards and probably crammed with valuable dark objects. I wanted to go there soon to check them but I'm not sure about the house itself..."  
"You're thinking about moving", Marvolo stated flatly.

"Ah, well, not exactly. I mean, little Harry already sees this as his home and I did put a lot of work in it..."  
"But?"  
"But it's just that it's _your _house. Dark Manor was ours, we build it together and I had no problem keeping it in check while you were gone in Ireland or France. But now we're going to live here for some time, and quite peacefully so. I just feel that I can't always take from you. Besides, people will start asking questions soon. Nobody seems to have noticed yet that little Harry is gone. But soon they will, at the latest when I take him to Diagon. I could disguise him, sure, but I don't want to keep it a secret forever either. It would only harden the suspicion that I kidnapped him. They will want to know why I live with you when I have a perfectly good house myself. I mean, we can't exactly tell them the truth." Sadly in this era homosexual relationships were frowned upon. Not so much by the light wizards and bloodtraitors, whose opinion they didn't give a damn for, but mainly by the old pureblood families to whom heirs were the most important result that came out of a relationship. Telling that society that the last living members of two old, rich families still carrying their name were throwing all tradition away and only sleep with each other – that wouldn't be accepted. As the Dark Duo they could allow such rumors to spread without worrying about it. Here, they couldn't. They didn't quite have the name for it yet.

Apparently Marvolo didn't give a damn on other peoples opinions though:

"You will _not _move", he said and it sounded like a command. "I refuse to live in a muggle neighborhood. At least here the vermin stays in the valley. I _do_ expect to find you here whenever I need to."

Harrison scowled hard at his commanding tone. He did not like being ordered around, having to ask for permission where to live! But he knew that it was a delicate subject with Marvolo. He never gave up what he had claimed as _his_. Actually it wondered him that he gave Harrison, his precious horcrux, out of hand for most of the year. He always wanted to keep him close. It wasn't protectiveness anymore, Harrison could protect himself. It was obsession. The only thing that could keep him away from Harrsion was the promise of more power, more war or bloodshed. But even then he had only been able to lead the war in France as long as he knew Harrison was safe back in England managing their little empire.

"Why would we be satisfied with only one house?", Harrison asked smiling. "We could just connect the both. We can buy a vanishing cabinet for the Manor and Grimmauld Place. And when we're at it, another set to connect your office in Hogwarts with this place. That way you could even come here at the weekends or when you want to do some of your little experiments that are forbidden at Hogwarts and little Harry and I can use both houses. On the outside it would just seem as if we're visiting you a lot, which is alright since we're childhood friends." That was their story, that they had gotten to know each other on their travels and lived for quite some time in Greece as neighbors, Marvolo because he was keeping his distance from his 'father' ruling in Britain, Harrison because he wasn't welcomed in his family as a halfblood. Now the rumors of Voldemort being in Albania and Walburga Black's death coincidenced so they decided to claim their heritage.

"It would look suspicious if I had a vanishing cabinet in my office, though", Marvolo answered. "Normal people use the floo."

"As if there's anything normal about you", Harrison scoffed. "And the floo can be watched or blocked. Besides, I heard vanishing cabinets are out-dated nowadays. As long as you keep it in your bedroom you can pretend it to be a normal wardrobe."

"That's true", Marvolo said, clearly content on having a possibility to reach Harrison fast. "Let's do it that way, then. Make sure to have the connection as soon as possible."

"Why so impatient?", Harrison asked. "Is there something you need to flee from?"

It was meant to be teasing but Marvolo grimaced at his words. "I don't want to have any dirty press should something big happen at Hogwarts – somehow, it always does. Therefore I plan on making my supposed relation to Voldemort official by Christmas, as soon as the the public loses interest in the mystery of my last name."  
"You want to be on the front side of the papers everyday, don't you?"

"I want it to be over with as soon as possible so when things start going rough my 'dark past' will be old news and nobody will suspect me only based on it."  
"What do you mean with 'things going rough'?"

"Well.. If I didn't have a body and none of my knights would help me I would do something on my own after some time. That time I would chose very carefully. It would have to be after seven or eight years so the world would have forgotten about me. From Albania to England I would need another two years without a body, only being able to posses little animals. All in all the most fitting time to make my appearance would be when my arch enemy left his hole. Harry Potter would be easier to kill at Hogwarts then behind those blood wards. After all my alternate self has absolutely no chance to know that you took him in. So I only have another five years to establish a positive reputation and be forgotten by the world. That's not very long so it's better the world gets all the scandalous information now and has time to settle down."

"Alright, I understand. So Christmas it is."

"What's at Christmas?", a high voice could be heard. Little Harry was finished changing.

"At Christmas Santa Claus will bring you lots of presents", Harrison grinned.

But Harry scowled. "Santa Claus doesn't exist. That's only a fairy tale!"

"Oh, like unicorns and dragons and magic?", the older Potter teased.

The kid's eyes got all big and round.  
"Forget it, Evans", Marvolo murmured. "You're not dressing up as Santa Claus! It would give me nightmares for a whole week."

Harrison grinned at him innocently. "Who was talking about _me?"_

The look he received in return was _murderous._

* * *

Four hours later Marvolo had arrived at Hogwarts. Of course the feast had been wonderful and of course the whole school was whispering about him, asking themselves whenever or not he was really related to _the _Salazar Slytherin. Even the teachers (with the exception of Dumbledore) looked at him oddly. Marvolo pretended not to notice. He was just enjoying being _finally _able to claim his seat on this table. He would never admit it openly but it was a childhood dream of him to sit on that place, to look at all these faces and to know they were _his_ students. It was a wonderful feeling and it made him all giddy. So it was with a scaringly good mood that he went to to first teachers conference of the year.

The meeting itself was more boring then anything else. Most of the time the teachers just shared stories from their own holidays, talking about the new Head Boy/Head Girl and the prefects or who was going to win the House Cup this year. Marvolo was careful to make polite conversation but all in all made sure nobody paid too much attention to him. In the end however the headmaster asked him to stay behind

"Do you want a lemon drop?", Dumbledore asked, eyes twinkling.

"No thanks", Marvolo answered. He had to think about the way his lover had killed their Dumbledore and returned the smile.

"Very well. How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

An evil little monster twisted in his chest. Marvolo knew everything about masks. He _loved _Hogwarts – but telling him so would be admitting his emotions. On the other hand he had to play harmless while being sure Dumbldedore already expected him to be dark. Using his real emotions as a mask to mislead that he really wasn't that impressed by the castle was a double bluff he'd like to see his reaction to.

"I have to admit, it's a wonderful place", he answered honestly. "The school grounds and the forest, so full of magical life, the special charm of the moving staircases, armors and the paintings – oh, and that ceiling is a fabulous piece of art!"

To his great enjoyment Dumbledore seemed to be a little bit taken aback.

"Well yes, it really is a great place. I hope you'll feel at home soon."

"My colleagues seem to be welcoming enough. With the exception maybe of the Gryffindor Head of House they weren't even too hostile towards my last name."

They both knew very well that it was more likely that Minerva McGonogall recognized him from her own school days. But Dumbldedore didn't know that Marvolo knew so he was quick to assure him that she was not usually one to support the Gryffindor-Slytherin feud and just needed some time to warm up for strangers.

After some time of chit-chat the headmaster finally came to his real subject.

"I was wondering what exactly your plan was for your classes. Did you have time to go through the information I send you on the former curricula that you requested?"

"Yes I did", he said, scowling. "I might have to add that they were quite unstable. I have worked on a curriculum for each year to try to balance their weak points."

"Would you mind sharing your plans?"  
"Of course not. Since the magical core of children under the age of thirteen isn't always well developed I had planned on theory of the more common magical enemies as well as some simple physical warding for the first years. Second years will concentrate on detecting harmful magic as well as casting privacy wards and breaking them."

"Privacy wards?", Dumbledore asked surprised. "That is unusual."  
"Yes well, I will work together with Professor Flitwick at those. But my subject is Defensive against the Dark Arts and there's a lot more to the Dark Arts then just curses. In my opinion people should be able to defend themselves against espionage as well. Of course they also have to be aware that just putting on some silencing wards doesn't make it impossible to listen to them, therefore the exercise to break them."

"A curious position. But please, do continue."

"Third years will be able to defend themselves against larger physical attacks as well as common dark creatures. In fourth year I will teach them how to duel. They should've learned enough about charms as well as major transfiguration to use it offensive. I'll try to encourage creativity in that part. At the end of fourth year everyone should be able to defend himself against common dangers. Fifth year and above I will handle as if they'd want to have a professional career at defense. Depending on the class I will concentrate more on spells, for those who wish to become aurors, on warding or curse breaking for others and if I have the time maybe I can even make an excursion or show them some more dangerous beasts, working together with Professor Kettleburn."

"It seems you've planned it all very good", Dumbldedore said impressed. "The students will be lucky to have such a responsible teacher."

"Of course, headmaster. It's always good to hear that my work is appreciated", Marvolo replied with a smirk. He was sure that his curriculum would be a revolution to Hogwarts!

* * *

The summer came to an end. Harrison had brought two sets of vanishing cabinets so Marvolo could come to them at the weekends and sometimes in the evenings too. The two Harry Potters were busy cleaning the old Black House at Grimmauld Place from all the grime and parasites. The Portrait of Mrs Black was screaming every time the 'bastard with the muggle name' came close to her. But even Harrison couldn't figure out a way to banish her and quite frankly, he didn't have the patience to search for a way. It was Harry who in the end suggested to just put a tall bookcase in front of her. It shut her up effectively.

Since little Harry had already figured that Harrison and Marvolo were dark wizards Harrison decided to give him a final test of allegiance. He let him watch as he performed all three Unforgivables on the old house elf Kreacher.

At first little Harry was horrified at the sight of the elf screaming bloody murder under the torture curse. He stared at the creature with big, scared eyes and Harrison waited for him to beg him to stop, to led Kreacher go.

Instead the child bowed his head and quietly whispered: "Please father, can you... Can you just kill him already?"

Surprised Harrison lifted the curse, watching his new son carefully.

"Avada Kedavra", he whispered then and Kreacher fell to the ground, dead.

Harrison dropped on his knees to be on eye level with Harry and watched him with a serious expression.

"That's what we are, Hatchling", he whispered sadly. "That's what we do. Sometimes we torture people, to get information out of them. Sometimes we do it to make an example so that people would fear us and stop fighting. Sometimes we do it to relay a message and sometimes we make other people do it, just to test if they have in in them, if they're serious about joining us. This, Harry, this is what makes us _evil. _But killing... Killing isn't evil. Killing can actually be a good thing sometimes. You can kill a person because he's suffering, wishing for an end to the pain. You can kill somebody to prevent him from spilling your secrets, to protect yourself or people you care about. Sometimes it's not obvious that it might be necessary. This elf, for example. I tortured him to make you realize who we are, but I killed him for an entirely different reason. I killed him because he was loyal to the House of Black, loyal to the beliefs of the woman from that painting that clearly doesn't like us. Having a servant who hates you is a very dangerous thing. Letting him live was a unnecessary risk, if not for me then for you."

Harry swallowed the thick lump in his throat. "Do I... Do I have to torture and kill too?"

"No", Harrison answered with determination. "No, you won't ever have to. You're my son and I want you to stay as innocent as possible. But I do want to be honest with you. Someday people will realize who we are and I don't want you to get these information from them and feel as if we've betrayed your trust. If you don't want to, you'll never have to see any of this again.

Of course Marvolo and I will always tell you that if you have a mortal enemy who want's you dead and you have the chance to kill him without to much repercussions, you should. Else he'll just come back to hurt you or your friends again. But that is entirely up to you. Should something like that ever happen to you, I would ask you to tell me about it so I can finish your enemies off. You don't have to taint yourself. That's a choice left to you and you alone." He laid a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me, Hatchling, do you still want to be with us?"

"I..." He bit his lip, thinking hard. "I... would have to go back to the Dursleys if I didn't, wouldn't I?"

"Probably", Harrison admitted. "We could always try to get you adopted by another family... But if you chose to leave us people would ask why and you'd have to tell them it's because we're dark. Then they wouldn't listen to us if we told them not to sent you to the muggles again."

"Then I'll stay", little Harry decided. Maybe he could not say that he didn't care that his father was a dark wizard. But he was still better then the muggles. At least he knew his father loved him. Even if he never said so.

* * *

Two weeks later it was Halloween, or Samhain, how traditional wizards called it. It was a night full of magic and possibilities. Hogwarts had made a charade out of the ancient, noble festivity but some families still knew how to celebrate it properly. Marvolo had been invited to the pureblood ball at Malfoy Manor who had probably heard of him because he held a seat at the School's Governors Board. Marvolo had politely declined. It was still too early for him to step out in the open and let himself be questioned – besides he already had different plans for the night.

Harrison spend the night lecturing Harry about the meaning of Samhain and the three other magical nights of the year after the Celtic calender. But there was another discussion he had to have with him sooner or later and this might be the perfect moment.

"Harry, I promised you I would tell you about your parents, at least the little I know of them", Harrison said. "It has to do with the way they died. Do you want to hear it?"

"They... They didn't die in a car crash, did they?", little Harry asked hesitantly.

"No, they didn't. They were killed, Hatchling, killed by a wizard named Lord Voldemort."

"Vol...Voldemort?", the boy repeated, tasting the name. "I think I read about him."

Harrison chuckled. "Well, you won't find a half bad history book without his name in it. If it isn't censored, that is. Voldemort was a dark wizard who wanted to change the magical world. He wanted to rid it of all that was unworthy. He was against the ministry suppressing all the old traditions and changing everything so that muggleborns would feel integrated. He wanted half breeds like werewolves or vampires to have equal rights and for dark magic to be allowed again. With his beliefs and him supporting pureblood supremacy he had many followers, the so called Death Eaters. They were powerful and went so far as to move into open war, targeting mudbloods, bloodtraitors and muggles. They killed to spread terror but they were wild and uncontrolled. When Voldemort was but a week from overthrowing the government a prophecy was made, a prophecy that predicted the birth of a boy who was to be his equal. The one with the power to defeat him. That boy and the Dark Lord... It was said that they could only die by the hand of one another. So, fearing for his quest and his life to be ended, Voldemort decided to kill that boy before he could grow to become a threat to him. That boy was you.

Six years ago Voldemort came to your families house. He killed both your parents who were fighting against him before and sent a killing curse at your direction. But it reflected because of reasons unknown and destroyed him instead. Voldemort is not dead but he's powerless at the moment and will need some years to regain a body again. But he's still alive and one day he'll come after you again. Because you're the Boy-who-lived, the hero of the Light."

Harry sat there for a couple of moments, trying to grasp what he had heard.

"But", he said finally, "but I'm nothing special. I'm just Harry."

"That's right", Harrison answered and patted his head. "That's why you have us. Marvolo and I will take care of Voldemort once he dares to come back. You will never really have to worry about it. But it is still important that you know what people think of you. They will challenge you, regardless whenever you want it or not. You have to become strong in order to survive, even against Voldemort. At least as long as you need to call one of us."

"But if only I can... can kill him, then how can you help me?"  
"Because", Harrison said grinning, "I'm Harry Potter too. You ever wondered why we look so much alike? I'm not actually a relative. I'm _you._ I'm you from another dimension. It's like..." He though about how to explain that to the confused child. "It's like we're the same actor but in different movies. In my world Voldemort also killed my parents and was destroyed by the killing curse. But when I was checked for injuries after that it was discovered that I had a curious scar on my forehead..." Harrison lifted the bangs of black hair and wandlessly removed the glamor to reveal a lighting bolt scar matching Harrys own. "I was discovered that the scar was bound to a curse... A curse that made it impossible for Voldemort to die while I was still alive. A powerful light wizards named Albus Dumbledore tried to remove that curse – but he failed and invoked some kind of magical accident that sent me back in time around fifty years. A grew up at an orphanage, an orphanage I met Marvolo at." The ritual that was supposed to remove his horcrux had sought out its counterpart in its purest form, the soul of baby Voldemort. "I grew up together with him... With the man that later on took upon the name of Voldemort."  
Harry gasped. "Uncle Vol...killed my parents?!"  
Harrison shook his head. "No, he didn't. He killed _my _parents. When he did it he had no idea who they were or that I was Harry Potter. Neither did I, for that matter. But the thing is that one cannot kill his own... well, he could not kill me because of the connection that was already forged so the circle closed again." By the time Marvolo had attacked baby Harrison, the old Harrison had already split his own soul to stick a piece of it at Marvolos soul. That way Marvolo had tried to kill a person he carried a piece of soul from. You couldn't kill your own horcrux but the other way around you couldn't kill a person you were a horcrux from either. Well, at least not with a single killing curse.

"When I found out what had happened with the baby I realized that it was actually me. I helped Marvolo to gain a body and together we ruled over Britain... until the resistance somehow managed to bring us here, into your dimension", Harrison explained. "It is very important that you understand that Marvolo is not Voldemort, just like I am not you. We're both Harry Potter, but we're different people. The same actor but different roles – I'm Harrison, you're Hatchling."  
"Hatchling", he repeated dully.  
"Well, yes, until you come up with another nickname. It's 'cause that scar on our forehead gives us the very rare gift of being able to speak parseltongue – the language of snakes.

Marvolo is in fact opposed to Voldemort, and so am I. This dimensions Voldemort is a lot crueler and more insane then Marvolo ever was. I guess it's because he doesn't have me to keep him in check. Maybe we won't be able to hold back in the war that's sure to come someday. I don't know what we'll do. Maybe we'll side with the Light and still change this world according to out beliefs through politics. Maybe we'll just kill Voldemort and take his place once he managed to take over Britain. Either way whatever we do, we'll do it together and you can always count on our help."

Harry was not sure if he believed everything his father told him. He didn't even understand half of it. But he got the most important part, namely that his father was determined to fight for him even against someone who was essentially another Marvolo. That was something he had though to be impossible the way those two always acted around each other. He did not know how he felt about Marvolo at that time but as long as he didn't try to kill him because of that prophecy he guessed it was okay to think of him as an independent person. It was just that this Voldemort guy sounded like a typical villain out of a fairy tale, a person far away and difficult to picture. But he knew Marvolo, he had met him, spoke with him and tried to please him. It was difficult to see him as anything else than his uncle. A very cold and distant uncle, maybe, but nonetheless a part of his new family. If Harrison could forgive him for killing his parents, than surely Harry could forgive him for killing... some people from a different movie who strongly resembled his parents. Or something like that.

* * *

Meanwhile Marvolo had a rather stressful day too.

Since it was a rather magical night he had decided that now was the best time to reawaken the great beast that slept under the school. Naila was a very old and very proud basilisk that held the wish of her old master Salazar Slytherin above everything. Fortunately her memory wasn't the best so after 1000 years it was easy to make her believe exactly what Marvolo wanted was what her master would have wished for this school too. In his young days Harrison and he had persuaded Naila to attack several mudbloods. The victims were only petrified, which was a hard feat to accomplish as there had to be quite a few arranged coincidences. That one time in the lavatories had been really narrow. But anyways, since the victims could be saved there was no reason to shut down the school. Still muggle parents were calling all their children home in fright of the monster. That way Hogwarts had been cleaned of all mudbloods and Dumbledore had lost a significant amount of influence. At the end of their school career not a single mudblood had been left so they could sent Naila back to sleep without making it too obvious that the attacks stopped when they left school. Years later they had called her again to help in the war at Ireland where she had been killed by a bunch of dragon hunters, but still she had helped them along greatly.

Even if it was too early to open the chamber again Marvolo still wanted to make sure he had the same friendly relationship with her by the time he would need her help.

Marvolo glared at the colorful decoration at the feast and all the happy children, wanting nothing more then to leave the Great Hall. He was just thinking that it might be time for him to excuse himself when something caught his attention – and the attention of the entire school, at that.

In the middle of the Great Hall a blinding white light suddenly appeared. It had the shape of a round disc and slowly grew until it was roughly two meters in diameter. It was hovering between the Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw table. Violet lighting bolts could be seen at its edges.

The entire Hall went silent. Marvolo had to repress the urge to start up from his chair. His eyes widened as he _recognized _that light. It was the same he had seen shortly before the resistance had sent him here.

It was a dimensions portal.

And someone was coming out of it.

###

Well yes, that last part wasn't planned. But I just read an awesome fanfiction about dimension traveling and I had this new idea for a fanfic... But I didn't want to begin another one so I decided to just mix them up. So next time there will be introduced a couple of new characters. Only that they won't be new... just alternate! XD


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